Sultan Ibrahim was sworn in as king – with the Malaysian title of Yang di-Pertuan Agong – already in January, but on Saturday the stage was set for a lavish ceremony at the National Palace in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.
He is the 17th monarch in the constitutional monarchy, where the king is formally elected by and among the nine heads of state – making Malaysia one of the world’s few elective monarchies. In practice, the kingship is divided among the nine sultan families.
The king’s role is mainly symbolic, but has taken on a more important role in recent years. Among other things, the king has had to intervene three times to appoint a prime minister following the government has disintegrated and when the election in 2018 ended without a clear majority in the national assembly.
Ibraim Iskandar and his family rule the southern state of Johor, which borders Singapore. Bloomberg estimates the family’s fortune at at least 5.7 billion dollars – which at today’s exchange rate is equivalent to almost 62 billion kroner.
The last time a Sultan of Johor was Malaysia’s king was when Ibraim’s father, Sultan Iskandar, became the country’s eighth king in 1984.
In addition to the nine traditional Malay monarchies, modern Malaysia consists of four states and three territories that are not monarchies and thus do not participate in electing the king.
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2024-07-21 12:47:59
